Now that the chicken pen was built it was up to me to plant the trees that i had an opportunity to have help with but shifted off due to something else being more important and requiring finished first. I was way more confident that i could dig holes for trees than i was that i could get the chicken pen done in a timely manner so now it was just about getting up, getting out there, and doing it. I dug this hole in 2 hours instead of 4. It was pre-dug, it just had another tree in it at the time so i had to get the dead one out and then pull all of the roots out of there with the shovel and pick axe. I did make good time with this one. So much so that i got enthusiastic and decided to start on another hole. That one had more established tree roots and by then it was really hot out and i nearly overheated and turned bright red like a crab all over, had to lay down on the ground and then wet my clothes and lay on the floor in the house in the a/c for about forty minutes. Basically its usually cooler by this time of year but its been unseasonably warm. The highs were still in the low nineties at this point and by the time i decided to dig the second hole it wasnt nice and cool anymore. I did get a second wind at one point when my skin color returned to white and i’d hydrated a bit. I didnt think i was going to finish the hole that day but i thought i could maybe at least get half way to digging out a hole for one of the pecan trees. The hole was inundated with really ornery tree roots that had seriously anchored in there and i could not get them out. I was really trying with the pick axe when i got too low to the ground and brought the pick axe down, a piece of rebar going up through my middle finger. It was immediately clear to me that this was bad since there appeared to be a small but deep hole in the side of my finger where this piece of the end of the rebar was sticking out from where i’d hammered it into the ground and a little piece of the metal had jutted out after repeated hammering into the rock…which quickly filled up with dirt/rust and blood. I dropped what i was doing and immediately went to the well house spigot where i washed the rust out of the wound for a long time. I decided i was probably done. I cleaned up my mess and called it a day. It was probably a sign that i was supposed to be done.
The mulberry tree was in the ground. Now there were just the two pecan trees and the non-fruiting trees that were left in pots. I would tend to them another weekend. (I wouldnt. I would run out of time and they would have to be left for next year because there wasnt enough time for the roots to spread and establish in a new hole before hard freezes were possible).
The hole in my finger actually ended up developing an infection and tunneling. It became red, inflamed, and very painful. Once i started treating hourly with raw organic coconut oil the infection dissipated within 3 days and it took another couple weeks for the edges to start pulling in and the hole to become shallower until it finally developed a scab shaped like half an egg shell and then became detached enough for me to pick it off one day. I still have a random pink spot on the side of my finger but its completely healed and im very glad it stopped tunneling and that i dont need any tetanus shots. (Maybe learned my lesson about working near rebar…dont).
